Other Terms of Endearment
by Coletta
Summary: After he's caught in an embarrassing sex scandal, Alucard stands before the Round Table to answer for his behavior. But he has Integra's wrath yet to face as well as scorn from Walter and Seras...
1. The Meeting

Seras Victoria watched Alucard intently.

He was sitting on a bench outside the conference room door, waiting. He looked none too pleased.

Inside, the Convention of Twelve railed.

Seras could just barely hear their voices; Alucard, with his supernatural hearing, could probably hear every word. As the minutes dragged on, Alucard's shoulders slumped, his elbows came to rest on his knees.

The door to the conference room opened up. Seras sank back behind the corner, but continued to spy on. Remaining invisible was very taxing on her immature vampire body, and it commanded most of her concentration to remain undetected.

Walter stepped out of the conference room and gently shut the door behind him. He turned to Alucard, who was now sitting straight up. "She's gathering her things," Walter said, his voice more even and cold than Seras was used to. "You'll be allowed inside in a moment."

Alucard asked, "Don't they want her to testify?"

"Sir Integra can't participate in the deliberation because they consider her a victim." Walter adjusted his monocle, studying Alucard carefully. "They were appalled. They said the very fact she could defend you meant she was a hostage in her own home, that there's an immediate threat to her safety."

Alucard said evenly, "I'm an immediate threat to her safety." It wasn't a question. It was an acknowledgement. It was almost an admission.

Walter added coldly; "Women always blame themselves."

Alucard didn't respond. He just continued to look at Walter. After a moment, the vampire nodded in acknowledgement.

At that moment, the door to the conference opened again. Both the vampire and the butler looked up expectantly as Integra Hellsing walked slowly out. She clutched a folder uselessly to her chest, it's contents hastily brushed aside by the Round Table members. She pointedly stared ahead, refusing to look at anyone.

Alucard stood hesitantly.

Walter stepped forward until he was nearly chest-to-chest with Alucard, practically daring the vampire to try to walk past him.

"They're ready for you, Alucard," Integra announced, almost sounding disinterested, not looking at either of them.

"Master…" Alucard called.

Integra did not turn around. "I did what I could for you, which was more than you deserved. It's out of my hands now. Just go in there and don't fuck up." She continued walking, muttering under her breath; "Fucking idiot. Stupid goddamn..." Suddenly, she turned around at said directly at Alucard, "You're a goddamn idiot!"

Alucard did nothing. His expression was undetecable behind his mirrored yellow lenses.

Seras was cringing, clinging to the wall.

Integra seethed, her fists shaking, "_Go_ in there and don't fuck up!" With that, she walked away, shaking her head.

Alucard looked at Walter, his expression unreadable under his yellow lenses.

Walter had his arms crossed. He glared back at Alucard. "Well? Go in there. They're expecting you."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

There was hush in the conference room as Alucard entered.

The vampire's supernatural black form melted and hovered, at first just two glowing red orbs, then a ghastly white face, and then his lanky fluid body. His mouth pulled back over jagged teeth gleaming like broken mirrors, his red eyes rolled back behind his glasses as if he were a rabid dog eager to rip their throats out. "Good evening," he greeted in the friendliest, most menacing of tones.

Before the vampire was an oblong table where eleven knights sat silent in judgment. At the far end of the table, there was an empty seat; Integra's seat.

The knights who remained were of various ages and had varying degrees of graying hair, but what they had in common were stiff postures and impatient eyes. But even as Alucard stood there, doing and saying nothing, the men began to avert their eyes. It was as if they could not gaze upon Alucard for very long without his threatening essence affecting them.

The only man with a steady gaze was Sir Irons, the senior member and unofficial leader of the Convention of Twelve. He was old, his mouth drawn tightly, his skin sagging, but his shoulders were broad and his jaw square and tense like a man much younger and stronger.

A little apart from the table, an empty chair was placed alone. Alucard eyed it carefully.

Sir Irons addressed Alucard: "Well? Sit down. Let's get this ugly business over with."

Alucard walked over to the chair and sat down, crossing his legs and folding his hands in his lap. He did not remove his hat or his glasses. He sat straight, alert and quiet.

"Do you understand why you are here today?" Sir Irons asked.

"No," Alucard answered. "Honestly."

There was some quiet mummering. "See? No remorse," someone muttered.

Sir Irons asked, "Are you unaware of the accusations against you?"

"I'm unaware how they are _your_ business," Alucard said. "You are meddling in a private affair."

"The Hellsing Organization and the Convention of Twelve exist only at her majesty's pleasure," Irons said. "We don't have private affairs—only state business."

Alucard smirked. "Salacious rumors are the business of the Queen? Ho-_ho_. Parliament and the Royal family have their share." He lifted his hands in mock surrender. "Can our family not be afforded some privacy as we navigate through difficult times? You understand this is a delicate matter between my master and I."

Sir Irons steepled his hands. "A private, family affair," he repeated thoughtfully. "I don't recall you ever becoming a member of the Hellsing family. You are, at best, a family pet." Sir Irons raised an eyebrow. "Many have joked you are, indeed, a pet. And if you are regulating yourself to the status of a pet, a non-person if you will, then we don't require your input to make a ruling." He opened a file in front of him on the table. "Sir Integra, for instance, insists that you are an animal, incapable of knowing right from wrong. Any misdeeds you commit, she concludes, are hers to take responsibility for." He looked back up at Alucard. "We agree."

Alucard said, "Whatever you decide won't make any difference. I only have one master." He glared at each knight in turn. "You can come to whatever conclusion you wish, no matter how ignorant: your decisions have no impact on me. You can't impose a punishment."

"Yes, that's correct," Sir Irons agreed. "That duty lies solely with Sir Integra. And she refuses to perform her duty to keep you controlled, even though you have demonstrated you are an immediate threat against her life and you threaten the security of our nation. Either she is complacent with your disobedient behavior or she's frightened of you and you're beyond her ability to command. This puts us in a very awkward and unfair position of having to force Sir Integra to relinquish the Hellsing Organization and strip her of her knighthood."

Behind his mirrored glasses, Alucard blinked.

"Unless you can give us some compelling reason why we shouldn't," Sir Irons finished. "As it stands, Sir Integra has defended you passionately. She takes full responsibility." Irons leaned forward. "So which? Is she incompetent? Or is she frightened of you and protecting herself from you?"

Alucard's gloved fingers dug into the arms of the chair.

Sir Irons leafed through a file infront of him. "Or…is she the blonde on the other end of the webcam? Is she…playing this webcam operator thing up because she's embarrassed she was caught fingering herself for a vampire?"

At that, Alucard bolted upright from his chair. "If you call my master a coward or a slut again…!"

"I believe you called her a slut first," Irons calmly pointed out.

Sir Penwood nervously fidgeted with his tie. "Hugh, please…"

"You bastard!" Alucard snarled, his eyes glowering, the room becoming black behind him. In his shadows, eerie red eyes began to open, focusing on the alarmed knights.

Sir Irons flipped a page, ignoring Alucard's display. "'Suck my cock,'" he read casually, "'Suck my cock, you slut. Just accept it. Its going down your throat whether you like it or not. Deeper. Deeper. Yes, that's it my master. Surrender to me.'" Sir Irons peered over his papers, an eyebrow raised at Alucard. "This is the transcript of your chat history on , isn't it? You acted out a perverse, deviant sexual fantasy of raping Sir Integra."

Alucard didn't answer. He shook with rage, his hair flowing behind him like a nest of snakes, his coat billowing in a non-existent wind, his familiars hissing and slithering unseen.

Sir Irons waited. When Alucard didn't respond, he added, "Several times."

Alucard said nothing.

Sir Irons waited for a little while longer, but Alucard said nothing in his defense. He said, "The purpose of this inquiry is to frame these events into a cognitive narrative. Based on our findings, we will make a ruling in regards to you, Sir Integra's future as Director and Hellsing's continued existence in general if we can permit it." He gestured to the chair. "Now, if you'll take a seat. I imagine we'll be here for a while."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

To be continued.


	2. The Threat

It dragged on for several hours before the conference doors opened and the Convention of Twelve members began trickling out.

From the bench Seras and Walter watched them go, Seras sitting up straight and observant while Walter leaned lazily and disinterested against the wall. Some members of the conference nodded to Walter. They all pointedly ignored Seras. As soon as the last of the members made it to the top of the stairs, Seras leapt up from her seat and ran into the conference room, finding Alucard still sitting in the chair he had been provided.

"Master?" Seras beckoned, her hands wringing nervously behind her back.

Alucard didn't respond. His glasses and hat were in his hands. He looked at them, dragging his thumb over the yellow-mirrored lenses. His expression was unreadable. He wasn't smiling.

Seras dared to take a step closer. "Master?"

Something flickered in Alucard's eyes. He blinked and looked up, as if coming out of a stupor. "Hm?"

"What did they decide?" she asked directly.

"Oh." Alucard ran his hands over the brim on his hat. "They haven't decided anything yet."

Seras was glum. "All that and they didn't…"

"Its probably for the best. They all wanted me locked up or dead when I first walked in," Alucard said, sliding his glasses over his face. "They took my testimony and said they would take it into consideration. By the time they were through…a few had changed their minds about me."

Seras found herself smiling a little. "Why? What did you say?"

"It was humiliating. I won't repeat it." Alucard sighed. "I actually had to tell the truth."

Seras tapped her temple and asked, "Couldn't you have just used your powers to manipulate them into forgetting about the whole thing?"

"No," Alucard said, standing. "It's only a temporary affect. Once they remembered, it just would have led to further complications."

"So," Seras asked, "When will they decide?"

"They want a second opinion before they rule. They want me to undergo a psychological evaluation."

"Oh, well that's not going to help you."

Alucard shot Seras a warning look.

Seras was unapologetic; "You're a crazy person."

Alucard said, "They want to determine if my…habit…is the product of mental illness or some personality disorder, or if it's natural for a vampire to have those urges all the time."

Seras shrugged. "I never think about those kinds of things."

"Never?" Alucard asked, sounding a little surprised.

"Never," Seras confirmed. She raised an eyebrow suspicious at her master. Did he _think_ it was normal?

There was a crash below them on the first floor. Alucard and Seras went stiff at the sound, turning in it's direction.

"That's preposterous!" Integra thundered from downstairs. "A _psychotherapist?_ Are you out of your _mind_?"

Walter was already halfway down the stairs as Alucard and Seras raced past him. Most of the knights were gathered in the foyer, looking nervously into the library. Alucard, Seras and Walter rushed towards the door and stopped at the threshold.

Inside, Sir Integra jutted an empty scotch bottle accusingly into Sir Irons' chest. "What do you expect to glean? That he craves blood and death? That…that _suffering_ turns him on?"

Sir Irons snatched the empty bottle from Integra's hand. "Settle down! You're drunk."

Integra stumbled forward, furious. "Let me save you the trouble; he's a _vampire_. Humans are food to him! He hunts them and eats them and drinks their blood! Who gives a shit what he thinks about in his own head as long as he's a slave! It doesn't hurt anybody. It doesn't hurt me." She made a wild hand gesture. "There is no evidence he was planning to do anything. Just thoughts in his head."

Walter stepped into the room and put himself between Integra and Sir Irons. "Ma'am,_ please_," Walter begged. "This is ugly and everyone can hear it. Please, let me take you two somewhere where you can discuss these matters in private…"

Integra abruptly shoved Walter with such force that he stumbled backwards into an armchair. Walter looked shocked.

"Who asked _you_?" Integra snapped. "I'm not ashamed of what's going. _I_ don't have anything to hide. I didn't do anything wrong!" She advanced forward aggressively, the unfortunate Walter having made himself a target of her anger. "Or maybe you _think_ I did something wrong…like everyone else. It's _my_ fault he fantasizes about rape. I _must_ have done something to entice him. Because women always _ask for it_."

Walter scrambled out of Integra's way just inches before she could grab him. He backed away in astonishment. "What the hell do you want me to do?" Integra demanded. "I have to live with it. When I sleep, when I dress, when I bathe, I know it's _always_ downstairs. Isn't that bad enough?"

Everyone began to inch away, the knights nearly running for the door. Seras crept away, tugging at her master's sleeve.

"She's out of control," Seras whispered to Alucard. "Master, we'd better run."

But Alucard was transfixed. His eyes were unreadable behind his lenses.

Integra's eyes found and settled on the unmoving vampire at the door. She boldly approached him.

Everyone paused and watched, holding their breath.

Integra lifted her hand over her head.

Seras gasped. "No!"

Integra gently patted the top of Alucard's head.

Alucard remained still. He didn't move a muscle as Integra touched him. "You see?" Integra slurred. "He's an animal. A pet. A well-trained pet." She removed her hand. "You. Kneel."

Obediently, Alucard stooped to his knees, his head bowed.

"_Who_ is your master?" she demanded.

"You are, Sir Integra," Alucard responded.

Integra patted the vampire affectionately. "And are you _happy_ to be my servant, Alucard?" Integra crooned drunkenly.

Alucard was taken aback by the question. In all his years in Hellsing's bondage, he had never been asked. "Yes," he answered. He actually felt great pride and relief and even a little guilty pleasure to be able to say so in front of so many people.

Integra reached down and found Alucard's chin, lifting it up with her finder so she could see his face. She took her finger and placed it on his forehead and dragged it down his nose, pulling his glasses off so she could look into his eyes. "You would _never_ hurt me, would you pet?"

Alucard shook his head no. "Never. I would never allow you to be harmed by anyone. And I would never do anything to injure you." It was the truth, no matter what wickedness might tempt him.

"_Never?"_ Integra dared, reaching into Alucard's breast jacket.

Alucard's eyes grew wide as he felt her fingers hook around the butt of his Casull and pulled it from his shoulder holster. Integra smirked at him as she saw him realize what she was doing. Integra pulled the Casull from his jacket. She grazed his chin with its silver barrel. The silver burned the vampire on contact, eliciting a sharp sizzle. He flinched, his nostrils filled with the smell of his burning flesh.

Standing up straight, Integra pointed the barrel squarely at Alucard's forehead and asked, "And what about now?"

Alucard said nothing, looking up at Integra, waiting expectantly.

Integra asked, "Alucard. Do you think you could you regenerate from a mercury-tipped blessed silver bullet skewering your brain?"

"I don't know," Alucard answered, fixated on the barrel. "I've never tried it."

"Have you ever _seen _a vampire get up after you've shot them through the head?"

"No."

Integra pressed the mouth of the barrel into Alucard's skin. He hissed as it burned a black charred "o" into his flesh. "What if I told you," Integra said, "that I'm going to drill a hole in your head with this right now? What would you say?"

Alucard gritted his teeth in pain, leaning backwards, away from Integra, but Integra continued to apply pressure and the gun followed him as he went. "I wouldn't have anything to say about it, master," Alucard said as he struggled and grunted, his eyes shut tightly. His forehead began to smoke, the silver barrel mouth sinking past his skin and drilling a hole in his skull. He shook in intense pain, his eyes watering, but he remained as he was, unwilling to defend himself or make his escape.

Integra dislodged her weapon from Alucard's head.

Relieved, Alucard slouched, shaking.

But she was not done. Integra grabbed a fistful of Alucard's black hair and shoved the gun in his open mouth. He flailed and fell backwards, held up by Integra's. Eyes wide, Alucard gagged, his face screwed up.

"I think this is better," Integra growled. "I think this is more appropriate. It's that mouth that's caused so much misery and suffering. All the people you bit and drank, all those foul words you said. All from that nasty mouth."

He gurgled, his teeth gnashing against the silver, the inside of his mouth burning and blistering, blood and drool seeping out of his mouth and dripping on the floor. His twitching hands involuntarily flew up and clutched Integra's sleeves, but he neither pushed or pulled her away.

"Just accept it," Integra whispered. "It's going down your throat whether you like it or _not_."

Alucard groaned, a lump appearing in his throat as the gun barrel inched down his gullet.

"Deeper," Integra panted. "Deeper."

With her words, Alucard's hands clutching her sleeves relaxed. He released her and let his arms fall to his sides, giving in to her, giving into the burning and the pain. His whole body seized, blood spilling from the sides of his mouth, his eyes bulging wide then rolling back up into his skull. He waited for the bullet he knew was coming without resistance. He was at peace with it. If it had to end, let it be like this.

"Stop this!" Sir Penwood cried out. "This is brutality! Sir Integra!"

Walter crept beside Integra slowly. "Ma'am," he coaxed her gently. "That's enough."

"No!" Integra shouted, crushing Alucard's windpipe with his own gun. "It's _not_ enough! _I_ get to decide when he's learned his lesson!"

"Nothing can be done that will make it right," Walter said, easing his hands over Integra's, trying to get her to release Alucard. "It's just as you said. He's a dumb animal. He doesn't know any better."

Sliding his fingers between hers, Walter managed to ease Integra's grip and release Alucard, who's head and body slumped to the floor.

The gun "clacked" to the floor as it slipped from Integra's fingers.

Integra looked down at Alucard, on his hands and knees, his forehead resting on the ground. He made no noise and did not move. She looked around at everyone looking at her.

Walter took Integra's hands in his and started to lead her away. "It's been a long day, ma'am."

"I'm _not_ incompetent," Integra hissed at him, looking over her shoulder at Alucard, Seras and the cringing knights.

"No one said you were, ma'am…"

"THEY SAID IT!" Integra shouted, though she allowed herself to be led by Walter. She pointed back at the knights. "You leave my family alone or I WILL FUCKING KILL EVERY ONE OF YOU."

There were anxious gasps, some backs pressed against the wall. Others gawked silently. Sir Irons just shook his head.

"Yes, ma'am," Walter agreed anxiously. "Let me fix you a cup of tea. Then we'll put this long, miserable day behind us."

As Walter led her away, the knights quickly made their exit, going out the front door.

Seras rushed to Alucard's side and knelt down on the floor. She pressed her cheek to the tile. "Master?" she whispered. "Master? Are you okay?"

Alucard didn't move.

Seras nudged her master. "Come on, now. She's just drunk. She didn't mean it." Seras tugged Alucard's arm. "I know you've had a terrible scare, but…"

Alucard sat up swiftly, throwing his head back, his face twisted in a parody of a smile though his eyes were filled with bloody tears. "A terrible scare? A terrible thrill!" he keened. "Did you see what she did? How lively and fiery our master is. My heart is still racing with joy. How wicked she is!"

Seras scowled, turning around and walked away. "God. You are awful. Don't you have any shame at all? I bet you aren't even sorry for how you've made us all feel."

Alucard picked himself up from the floor, swaying gleefully. "Oh, Police Girl, you need to get more fun out of life."

Seras snorted as she walked out of the library. "You're a pig."

Alucard laughed loud and heartily in response.

When he quieted down, he could hear his own voice ringing in the empty library. His smile faded. He looked around.

Seeing his gun laying on the floor, he reached for it. As his arm extended, he saw his hand was shaking. He gingerly picked up his own weapon, the gun "clattering" against the tile for a moment as he drew it back. Shaking still, he examined it for damage, then locked the safety and unloaded the magazine. By now, he was shivering so violently he found it was difficult to do. He took the magazine and put it in his pocket, then holstered his gun back in his jacket. He did the same for the Jackal.

Feeling light headed, Alucard approached the fireplace where two leather arm chairs sat side by side with a little table between them.

Alucard sat down in a chair, folding his trembling hands in his lap. He sat quietly for several hours, occasionally looking up at the ceiling whenever he heard a noise.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

To be continued…


	3. The Confession

Some weeks before the Convention of Twelve meeting, Integra was climbing the main staircase of the Hellsing mansion, folders clutched in her arms. Her brow was drawn in deep concern.

Money was missing from Hellsing bank accounts. Not the _organization's_ accounts–no, those funds were automatically replenished by the government and were therefore carefully audited.

The accounts in question were her _own_ personal family fortune, spread across several dozen international banks. Very few people, herself and a few accountants and a life-long family lawyer, had access to those accounts. In truth, it was a very modest fortune. She would have been incapable of supporting the Hellsing Organization's properties and activities on her own. As far as her own living expenses, they were tied in together with the Organization's funds, so she didn't carefully monitor those personal accounts as they were barely touched. To her shock, several hundred thousand were missing. She discovered in inconsistency completely by accident, in writing a personal check to an annual charity and discovering insufficient funds.

Because no one had access to the money but herself, she had to carefully trace her own spending back. Was it possible she had done something foolish without realizing it…bought a _helicopter_ with the wrong account? Or had someone _stolen_ from her? The only way to know for sure was to comb through months and months of statements to discover the truth. She had a _long_ day ahead of her.

Integra turned the corner and shuffled to her office, feeling files slip through her fingers. She clutched to the escaping documents with her pinky, trying to push the door knob down with her elbow, but she couldn't quite reach…

A white gloved hand with a familiar occult symbol scrolled over it appeared from the dark, snaked under Integra's arm and gently pushed down on the door handle, and the door clicked, swinging open.

Integra craned her neck to see behind her. "Ah. Thank you Alucard."

The vampire tipped his hat politely. His eyes were hidden behind mirrored yellow lenses, as they usually were during the dawn or the dusk.

"You're up late," Integra said, going straight to her desk, dropping her load with a sigh. "It's almost eleven in the morning."

"I can't sleep."

Integra put her hands on her hips and examined her mess. "What a disaster." She turned to face Alucard, brushing her hair out of her face. "You heard about what happened?"

Alucard's shoulders were slumped, his head bowed. He stood at the threshold of the shadows, the rest of the office bathed in warm sunlight.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Integra said, noting Alucard's withdrawn body language. She went to the large windows and pulled the drapes closed on all of them, blanketing the office in darkness. It took some effort–there were many windows and the ceilings were twenty feet high. As she struggled to shut them all, she smiled to herself; she was going out of her way to make her servant comfortable while _she_ was the lady of the house. Didn't she have a servant for manual labor? She chuckled to herself and turned around when she was done to look at Alucard. "Better?" she asked.

But Alucard's body didn't relax.

As she looked at him, she frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I can't sleep," Alucard said again.

Integra smirked. "Would you like me to tuck you in?" she teased.

Alucard peered at her over the rims of his glasses. After a moment, he returned her smile.

Integra went to her desk and sat down, swiveled in her chair to face Alucard…and her mound of folders. "What's on your mind, Alucard?" she inquired. She gestured to her papers. "Distract me from…this."

"I can't sleep because there's something I have to do. I was going to do it tonight…but thinking about it is making me sick. So I've decided to do it now."

Integra blinked at the seriousness of his words. "What?"

"I have to talk to you about something important. And unpleasant."

The secretive way he'd said it made Integra look at the door. She stood up from her desk and walked across the room and shut the door and then faced Alucard again. "What do you have to tell me?"

"I'm in trouble," Alucard said, his tone hushed.

Integra folded her arms and nodded. "Alright."

Alucard had paused, seeming to struggle for words. Finally, he just said, "I fucked up."

Integra waited for a moment, then said, "Okay."

"I _really_ fucked up," was all he could manage.

Integra watched his moral wrestling, feeling her heart sink. As suspicion and dread seized her, she thought; _What had her foolish servant done now?_ "What did you do?" she demanded.

"I'm being blackmailed," he finally said.

"Blackmailed?" she repeated in amused bewilderment. But then Integra let those words sink in, then looked over at her desk. She looked back at Alucard accusingly. _"You?"_ she said in disbelief.

"I had nothing of value to trade for their silence," Alucard explaimed. "I couldn't hunt them down and kill them because I don't know who they are, I don't know _where_ they are. They demanded money and I took yours." He looked at his own hands, empty and impotent. "I never thought you'd miss it. I thought I would have found them by now and put the money back where it belonged but…."

Integra put up her hands and Alucard silenced. "I don't care about the money!"

Alucard looked at Integra mournfully.

Integra said again, firmly, "I don't care. It's gone. It's fine."

Alucard shook his head, his hands still lifted helplessly. "I can't believe I'm standing here."

Integra took Alucard's hands. "What did you_ do_?"

Alucard locked eyes with Integra. He was completely silent.

"I can't help you if you don't tell me what you did," Integra said. "You _did_ something. _What was it_?"

Alucard began to draw back, but Integra held his hands tightly with a strength uncharacteristic of a human. "No. _No_, that's how blackmail works. You keep the secret, they _buy_ your secret and they buy _you_. I can't help you if you don't say what you did." She squeezed his hands. She wanted him to sense her support so she could coax an answer from him, but her anger was already boiling up as her imagination took off. "You've been killing people, haven't you? _Haven't_ you?"

Alucard feverishly shook his head. "No…"

Integra advanced aggressively. "Yes you have. I know you have. I _know_ you sneak humans on the side." She continued to move forward until Alucard's back was against the door, and still she advanced until she was nearly upon him. "You go out on missions and you secretly kill humans and you feed. I've always suspected it."

The vampire continued to shake his head. There was panic in his face.

Integra looked closely at Alucard in disappointment. "Why do you defy my orders? You agreed to servitude voluntarily and Hellsing took pains to make you comfortable when you didn't _deserv_e any…"

"It was_ barely _voluntarily," Alucard admitted resentfully, his tone beginning to mirror her hostility. "It was the more tolerable of two ultimatums…"

"It was _your_ choice," Integra said firmly.

"And I have been obedient!" Alucard defended angrily. "I have existed as you asked, hungry and unfulfilled and miserable." He shuddered. "I have done everything possible to live within your _narrow_…_suffocating_ restrictions…"

"You betrayed my trust," Integra shouted, cutting him off. She pointed at the windows. "I have been more flexible and tolerant than my father ever was…even-even against my better judgement. He _never_ let you off the grounds without supervision…without _some_ escort, even if it was just Walter. But I let you out _all night_ without limits and I've _never _questioned what you've done where you've been."

"You always question it!" Alucard shouted back. "You always complain about how long I take to come back…"

_"I have never questioned where you've been!"_ Integra thundered. _"I have never asked you what you've done!"_

"Well, why the hell not? Why stop there?" He laughed angrily. "Your father and grandfather didn't believe in privacy. They…they didn't even let me sleep…they wouldn't let me dream…"

Integra faltered, though still angry. "Because I never wanted to hear you lie to me!" She jabbed his chest, her adrenaline fading. "If you were going to betray me…I wanted it to be out _there_, not in my house." Her arm dropped away. "I didn't know what I would do if I caught you in a lie. I can't put you back in a cell. I don't ask. I don't want to know."

Alucard blinked, his own anger fizzling.

"I know you feed. I know you do. Don't lie to me. Don't tell me you do if you don't want to, but don't tell me you _don't_." Integra turned around sullenly and made her way back to her desk. She sank in her chair. "I'll deal with the blackmailers. You don't know anything about _cyber crimes_, you were_ idiotic_ to pursue this on your own. Seras Victoria is better suited to investigate than you–you should have sought her help. At least she's trained to deal with 21st century crime." Integra paused thoughtfully. "That's actually not a bad idea. That should keep sensitive information contained. Nice and neat. Maybe we can get out of this without the Round Table finding out."

Alucard said nothing.

"If there's nothing else, you're dismissed," Integra said, waving him away. "Go back to bed. Your conscious is clear." She rested her elbow on the desk, her forehead in her hand.

Alucard said, "My conscious is not clear."

Integra looked glumly back up at Alucard.

"I've fed on fleeing humans I could have saved," Alucard confessed. "Maybe they were injured when I found them, or bit by a ghoul…maybe they were infected or maybe they could have recovered. I told myself it was easier to silence them than it was for Hellsing to try and control the spread of information. That reasoning alone made it possible for me to feed without your permission. I've never felt like I did something wrong until this moment…even though I knew you wouldn't approve, I wouldn't have made any effort to conceal my actions. I'm not _ashamed _of being a vampire." Alucard paused. "I didn't steal your money go through this hell to hide the fact that I like to _kill_."

Integra sat back in her chair, her hands resting in her lap. "Then you're hiding something else?"

Alucard nodded.

"So there's something you've done you actually feel_ guilty_ for?" Integra mused humorlessly. "Thrill me, vampire. What makes the No-Life-King ashamed?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

To be continued.


	4. The Deadline

The sun was setting.

It had been several hours since Alucard had quietly followed Integra into her office, closed the door behind them and started a long, difficult talk. For the most part, it was quiet on the other side of that door.

Inside that office, neither of them were speaking now. Everything that they could manage to say had been said. Now all they did was wait. Wait for the deadline to pass. Wait for the blackmailers to make good on their threat.

Integra sat at her desk, drumming her fingers, cigar clenched in her teeth.

Alucard, for the first time, was thoroughly humble. There was no humor, no smile, no arrogance to him at all now. He sat in an arm chair in the corner of the room, legs crossed, hands folded in his lap, staring at Integra blankly.

He had told her.

She took it….unnervingly well.

She wasn't _happy_. But she hadn't…._killed_ him as he'd expected. In fact, she had absorbed the information so calmly that Alucard was nervous. Did she understand what he had said? He'd repeated himself several times, searching her face for some sign of scorn, hatred, but she just looked back at him blankly. When he could say no more, when humiliation crippled him, Alucard waited for the explosion of emotion. But Integra said nothing. She simply turned around and sat down at her desk and lit up a cigar and said she'd wait for the blackmailers to email her, as they had promised, and requested that Alucard sit as well and wait with her.

This, Alucard did _not_ want. He begged her not to even open the email. Delete it. Don't open it. Don't listen. Don't watch. He would tell her anything she wanted to know. He promised to be truthful, that he would leave no detail out. But please, don't open the email.

Integra had numbly waved Alucard's pleas aside. She wasn't going to be the only recipient of the incriminating email. The blackmailers had promised to cc that email every member of the Convention of Twelve. How could she conduct herself through the coming crisis if she did not know the content of the email? Certainly, there would be repercussions. An inquiry, most certainly, if not a full out investigation. Perhaps retribution.

"To stand by you," Integra reasoned calmly, "I'll have to know what I'm defending."

Alucard was ill. "When you open that file, you won't want to defend me."

Integra sucked in on her cigar. She exhaled. "How bad is it, Alucard?"

"It's awful. Please." Alucard was very far away, tucked in the corner of the room. He was swallowed by the shadows, just two red orbs floating in the black. "I can tell you everything I said. Please spare yourself…and me. Just don't open it when it comes."

Integra said, "If you'll tell me everything you said…word for word…why not listen?"

"I was so angry when I said it," Alucard said. "Those words were never meant for you to hear. Let me break it to you my own way."

"Will it spare my feelings?"

"Probably not," Alucard admitted. "But…I was…so angry. You don't want to hear me say those words."

"What did I ever do to you to deserve your anger?" Integra asked calmly, looking down at her cigar.

Alucard hung his head. "Nothing."

"You just….get angry all by yourself?"

Alucard nodded.

Integra flicked her cigar into an ashtray. "Surely I did _something_."

Alucard shook his head no.

"We all fantasize about revenge, Alucard. Even little slights can enrage us." She brought the cigar back to her lips. "You don't want to know what goes through my mind when someone cuts me off in traffic. Or what I want to do to Enrico Maxwell whenever that pig graces me with his presence."

The vampire smiled very slightly. "I do know what goes through your mind."

Integra chuckled.

Alucard's smile faded. "It was a mistake."

Integra sat quietly.

Alucard said, "It was just…irrational…impulsive…"

"I know," Integra said. He had already confessed as much.

"I'm not ready to see what your face will really look like when you hear me say those things," Alucard said without looking up. "I'm not ready…for my life is about to become."

Integra paused to consider that. "What is it you think you're life will become?"

Alucard peered miserably through his fingers. "I think…I will have no life."

Integra was about to chastised her servant for being melodramatic when she heard her computer's inbox chime.

Alucard looked up.

"It's here," Integra said.

Alucard sank back into his chair.

Integra opened the email. The sender's address was hidden. There was no subject line, no body copy. Just an attachment. Integra saw there were multiple recipients; all members of the Round Table.

She clicked open the attachment. A video file. Fifty three minutes. 200 dpi.

"Please," Alucard plead impotently from across the room.

Integra hit the "start" button.

The window expanded and a grainy video began playing. It appeared to be a webcam. In front of her, Alucard was sitting in front of the camera, looking curiously at the browser in front of him. Integra felt like he was staring at _her_, wondering what she was doing on the other side of the screen.

"Where is this?" Integra asked. "I don't recognize that terminal."

"I took a laptop from IT's lock-up," Alucard answered dejectedly. "I have it hidden in the sublevels."

The Alucard on the screen was pensively clicking the mouse.

Suddenly, the screen brightened and Alucard's face was lit up.

"Hi sweetie," came a sultry voice.

On screen, Alucard recoiled, his face in the shadows. "Hi," he answered back timidly.

Integra watched, riveted. She felt herself nearly smile. God…he was so…_shy_.

"Oh it's _you_ again," teased the voice. "Did you like our playtime last time?"

The Alucard on screen slowly nodded, moving closer again.

"Do you want to play _again_?"

Alucard nodded again, more confidently.

"Is your cock nice and hard?"

"…yes."

"You wanna fuck me with that hard cock?"

"…yes, please."

Integra fought the urge to laugh. Yes, _please_? She wanted to stop the video now and go give Alucard a hug, assure him that masturbating was normal and send him to bed before she dissolved in a fit of laughter. She glanced over at the vampire dying of embarrassment in the corner. Her heart went out to him. God, poor thing.

The voice on the video urged, "Well, tell me all about it. What do you want to do?"

On screen, Alucard edged a little closer to the camera. His breathing became a little louder, his nostrils flaring. He licked his lips. "I want…to kill you."

The voice responded, "Oooh. You must be real dangerous."

"I am," the vampire responded, licking his lips hungrily again.

"Are you a crazy serial killer?" the voice whimpered. "You stalkin' me…you got a knife?"

"No," Alucard answered huskily. "I'm a vampire."

"Oh, I like that. You gonna suck my blood? You gonna suck me dry?"

Alucard's eyes grew into wide, red sauces. He nodded hypnotically. "Oh, yes. Yes, master."

The _"Yes, master," _finally made Integra's smile disappear.

"Master?" the voice asked.

"Yes, Integra," Alucard groaned. "You are my master. For ten years I have submitted to you, my lovely human mistress, in spite of all my contradictory instincts and urges. I have stifled every pleasure and routed every impulse. For _you_. For _you,_ I drink foul bagged medical blood. Instead of hunting down my meals, I stand in miserable obedience, watching supple youths and maidens and virgins flitter past me on the street..."

"That must make you real mad," the voice crooned.

"FUCKING SHUT UP!" Alucard roared suddenly, eyes flashing red, fangs bared.

Integra recoiled at the sudden outburst.

"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" The vampire on screen frantically shook his head, eyes squeezed shut. He hung his head a moment. "I've had enough! You're a fucking cock-tease whore! You promise me such sweet pleasures with your adoring eyes…your soft lips…but you…you…won't even _look_ at me." When he looked up, there was real misery and hate in his face. He pushed a stray lock of hair out of his face, his hand shaking, his eyes dilated into murdering rage-voids. "We're going to play a _game_," he hissed. "How many times can I cum inside your ruined _hole_ while I fucking _rape you to death_."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The sound of screaming brought Seras and Walter running.

At the top of the sub-level stairs, two maids and three guards stood, peering down into the darkness. They were absolutely terrified.

"What happened?" Walter demanded.

One guard pointed nervously down the stairs. "Sir Hellsing went that way. With _him_."

"Th-then the…screaming started," one horrified maid stammered.

Walter stared into the darkness. "My god. It's finally happened." He turned to face Seras Victoria, his face grim and resigned. "Go to the barracks and fetch any soldier you can find. Make sure everyone is armed to the teeth and storm the sublevel."

Seras listened to Walter's orders uncomprehendingly. "What's going on? I don't understand."

"I always knew this day would come." Walter dug in his pockets and withdrew his specially reinforced black gloves. "Alucard needs to be subdued. Something has set him off, just as it did thirty years ago." He tugged the gloves on with purpose, his eyes fixated on the stairs. "If he doesn't surrender willingly…kill him."

Seras's eyes grew wide. She was silent.

"Fight him to the last man, but make sure he is dead. Don't allow yourself to be defeated while he lives, or he'll kill everyone in the house and turn all of England into ghouls," Walter said gently, smoothing his hands over his breast pocket and feeling the comforting lump of his filament wires. He looked at Seras. He paused at her frightened face. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I will probably not be alive when you come back. I'll hold him as long as I can. Pray for me and for Sir Integra. There's no telling what he's done to her." He squeezed Seras. "If….Sir Integra has been…._turned_….I'll see to that responsibility. I won't leave it to you to kill both your masters. Good luck."

Seras was frozen. She watched Walter turned around and race down into the darkness while she tried to collect her thoughts.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The screaming made his hair stand on end. Inhumane, frightened, like an animal in its death throes.

Walter rushed on into the darkness, heart pounding, mind racing, unable to imagine what he would find. The only feeling or thought he could grasp was how angry he was at Alucard. Thirty years ago the vampire had snapped without warning, attacking his master and all the residents of the Hellsing mansion. No reasonable justification had ever been offered. When questioned years later, Alucard had only given guarded, cryptic riddles as explanation for his actions…though Walter suspected, looking into the vampire's troubled eyes, Alucard didn't understand himself. Alucard's memories of the event seemed to be fuzzy, giving accounts to Integra that conflicted what Walter remembered. Walter had never openly called Alucard on it; he was more interested in making sure such a sudden attack never occurred again.

Alucard had been reasonably obedient for ten years since Integra had revived and released him. But Walter always knew…it was just a matter of time…

There was light at the end of the corridor. Walter raced towards it.

A door was open on the left hand side of the hall–a heavily barred, iron door Walter recognized as a laboratory. Walter skidded around the door and stopped at the threshold, panting.

There was Alucard. Screaming.

Walter stood dumbfounded. He stared, silent.

Alucard was strapped to a heavy wooden and steel table in the middle of the room. The table was positioned up-right, as if the vampire were standing, but his head, chest, pelvis, and his hands and feet were soundly locked in large metal cuffs. Over his head was a leather…._halter_…with straps over his forehead, over his eyes and covering his eyes like a blindfold, running along his jaw, another strap going over his cheeks and a steel ring positioned over his mouth. A wide metal bolt was secured to the ring, shoved inside his gaping mouth. Despite the gag, the vampire was screaming_. Alucard_ was the source of the frightened screaming.

It wasn't enough that the vampire was chained. He had also been staked through the hands, feet, shoulders, and one especially large and cruel one was lodged in his stomach. The heart had been pointedly ignored. Walter recognized the silver stakes immediately. Left-overs from Van Helsing's day.

Alucard's body was convulsing in a cruel seizure. The silver gag and stakes were burning him from the inside. Deteriorating ash fell from his gaping wounds. There was a puddle beneath the vampire's twitching body. Walter turned away in awkwardness, realizing Alucard had pissed himself.

Walter crept quietly out of the lab, sidled down the hall and rested his back against the wall. He slid to the floor, the adrenaline draining from him. He blinked numbly.

As he sat there in confusion, Walter heard another noise beyond Alucard's pitiful wailing; a groan, a sharp crack.

Walter turned and looked down the black corridor. "Sir Integra?" he called. He stood up and followed the new sound. As he walked, the noise grew louder. He recognized the sound of Integra's strained grunts. "Ma'am!" he called, speeding up to a run. "Ma'am? Ma'am?"

At the end of the corridor there was a turn, then a dark alcove. This was the place one could generally find Alucard and his coffin, the lair the vampire had claimed for his own. Alucard had few belongings; the coffin, a table and a lonely chair. Sometimes there was a bottle of wine, a glass. A forgotten book. All those familiar items; destroyed.

Integra was standing in the alcove, jacket discarded, sleeves rolled up, hair falling in her face in sweat-heavy strands. She was hunched over, panting from a great effort. In her hands was an axe.

"Ma'am?" Walter called, slowing down upon sight of his employer.

Ignoring him, Integra swung the axe over her head, the blade descending savagely into what was left of the black lacquered wood of Alucard's coffin lid. There were pieces of the coffin everywhere, splintered, shattered. The coffin bled a black oil. It cried and groaned as it met it's brutal end. Integra hacked away at it and didn't stop.

In the distance, Alucard's hysterical screams were in synch with the coffin's dismemberment.

Walter watched in horror. He watched until Integra had reduced the ancient coffin to shards. She then tossed the axe aside.

Finally, she looked up at Walter. "What do you want?" she demanded.

Walter stood stiffly. "I…just wanted to see if…I thought….there was _screaming_…."

"Everything will be fine. In just a minute." Integra brushed past Walter and went to Alucard's overturned chair. Next to it was a jug of kerosene. She picked it up, unscrewed the cap and doused everything in sight with the flammable liquid.

Walter balked. "Um. Ma'am?"

"Go get a fire extinguisher," Integra ordered Walter, soaking the destroyed coffin. "As satisfying as this will be, I don't want to burn the rest of the house down."

Walter gulped and took a ginger step forward. "Ma'am…don't do this. Whatever happened, it can be worked out."

The canister was empty. Integra tossed it aside and looked at Walter impatiently, slicking her damp hair out of her face. "You're going to make me go get it myself, aren't you?"

Walter took another step closer, raising his hands meekly. "It's going to kill him, ma'am."

"No…," Integra reached behind her back and withdrew a pistol from the waistband of her pants and waggled it at Walter. "…_this_ is going to kill him. After I set his coffin _on fire_."

"Ma'am…"

They both stopped when they heard the sound of soldiers rushing down the stairs.

Walter groaned, "Oh no, Seras…" He turned and ran back to the lab and shut the heavy door to the lab just as Seras and several dozen Hellsing soldiers rushed into the sublevels. Walter waved frantically. "False alarm!" he shouted. "Miss Vicotira…everything is fine!"

Seras and the soldiers slowed to a walk, but Seras was aghast. She held an assault rifle in her shaking hands. "False alarm?" she cried. "You were talking like Sir Integra was dead! You were telling me to fight Alucard to the death and…and…what the hell do you mean _'False alarm'?_ You had me scared out of my mind!" Behind her, the anxious soldiers were all exchanging worried looks and hushed whispers.

Walter forced a smile and waved them away. "Oh…oh, well, it was just a misunderstanding. Please excuse us. Everything is just fine and there's nothing to worry about. Please just go upstairs and forget the whole thing."

The soldiers began to sigh in relief. None of them had wanted to fight Alucard. They all dispersed and made their way quickly upstairs.

Only Seras remained, still clutching her gun. "Walter," she growled. "What's going on?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_To be continued…_


	5. The Consequence

Seras Victoria kicked down the front door with such force the door separated from the hinges and flew across the foyer. Instead of her bright yellow uniform, she was dressed in somber black Hellsing fatigues; the colors of an assassin. Automatic pistol in one hand, garbage bag in the other, she scanned the small, dark flat.

A man leapt up from his sofa with his hands up, bag of crisps spilling from his lap. His face was lit up by the television light. "Woah! Woah! Seras Victoria, right? There's been some _mistake_…!"

He was hammered by a barrage of bullets, the wall behind him spattered with holes and blood. He quickly dropped to the floor, in a pile of his own oozing organs. He twitched once. Just once.

Seras approached the dead man and nudged his limp head with her foot. Finding no response, she turned around and methodically searched every room. Sensing movement, she moved towards the kitchen. Nothing.

Wait, movement again. Seras moved forward immediately, her vampire senses honing on the kitchen counter.

There, she found a calico cat hiding behind a toaster. The thing hissed furiously at her.

Seras relaxed. "Your master won't be feeding you anymore," she told the animal. She looked at a window over the sink and nudged it open to allow it an escape.

She then continued on with her search. Climbing up to the second floor, Seras searched the bedrooms, the closets. In the master closet, she found several Hellsing uniforms, identifying the dead man downstairs as a member of the surveillance crew. Scowling, Seras yanked the uniforms from the racks and shoved them into the garbage bag. She hunted around the bedroom and found a Hellsing pin next to the night stand. She took that also, tossing it into the bag.

Finally, she found a wallet near the sink in the bathroom. She opened it and took the Hellsing membership ID card. As she moved it, she saw a worn photograph tucked into the sleeve-a young woman with glasses and crooked teeth, but a gentle smile. There was a heart doodled around her face. Seras took out the photo a moment and looked at it glumly. Then she thought of her masters and how this man had betrayed the organization for money and Seras gritted her teeth and crumpled the photo. She dropped the wallet on the floor and walked out.

Before she exited the flat, Seras casually stepped over the man and his brains seeping into the carpet and scooped up the open laptop on the coffee table. Closing the laptop and hefting her garbage bag over her shoulder, she stepped out the front door, walked down the stairs calmly and met the Rolls Royce at the curb where Integra Hellsing was waiting. The trunk popped open softly at her approach, and Seras deposited her weapons, the bag and the computer inside…along with four other confiscated computers and other no longer needed uniforms and ID cards. She shut the trunk emotionlessly and went to the front of the car and slid into the passenger seat next to Integra.

"That didn't take long," Integra mused, puffing on a cigar, looking very relaxed. She reached under her seat and withdrew a vinyl wrap and handed it to Seras.

"He lived alone," Seras said quietly, taking the vinyl. "Just like the others."

Integra started the engine, noting that neighbors had started opening their doors and curiously peering out in response to the gunfire. "I suppose we're lucky there weren't any families. No wives, no children."

Seras said, "Men with families wouldn't have risked trying to blackmail a _vampire_. They thought they were going to buy a private island, drive nice cars."

Integra said, "Hurry along, Seras."

"Yes, ma'am." Seras turned around and went back into the house. A few minutes later, she emerged with the body in her arms, wrapped in the vinyl. She went to the car and opened the back door and dumped the body on top of the other four bodies. She closed the door and slid into the passenger seat next to Integra and they drove away without looking back.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

As a young boy, he'd tied five Kraut soldiers together by their wrists and decapitated them one at a time with his filament wires.

Walter was leaning against the cool stone sub-level walls, sucking down a cigarette. Across from him was the laboratory door, locked tightly. Inside, the old butler could hear the vampire groaning helplessly, still chained.

Walter thought back on those five nazis he'd killed. He wasn't sure why he was thinking of them. He thought possibly, for a moment, it was because Alucard had been with him that night, snickering and jeering Walter on, urging him to greater depths of depravity. He'd skulked around the wailing soldiers as they watched their comrades fall one at a time. It had driven Alucard mad with lust. It had driven Walter mad as well. So much so that when Alucard's shadowy form returned to his side and his black tendrils slithered around his ankles, up his legs and between thighs, he never questioned it. And after all the soldiers lay dead, Alucard and he threw each other down into the soldiers' growing pools of blood and rutted, fully clothed, each fighting to be on top in a testosterone-fueled hate-fuck.

Smiling, Walter decided no. That _wasn't_ the reason he was thinking of the soldiers. He was thinking of them because Alucard's pitiful whimpering sounded just like theirs as they waited for their deaths. He never expected to hear such a sound from the King of Vampires. Such a stark contrast with the monster he knew.

He heard the sublevel doors open at the top of the stairs.

Walter stood up straight, at attention. He tossed down his cigarette and crushed it under his foot.

Integra Hellsing marched down the stairs, Seras Victoria following behind, carrying a body bag over each of her shoulders, straining at little under the weight.

"Trust you had a bountiful hunt, ma'am," Walter greeted.

Integra Hellsing was covered in a warm sheen of sweat and blood spatters, cigar in her teeth. "Indeed. I have four more of these upstairs."

Walter stepped forward. "Miss Victoria. Let me help you with those."

Seras gingerly followed Integra, carefully balancing the two bodies. "Ah…no, no, I've got them."

Integra pointed at the lab door. "Police Girl, you may deposit those there."

"Yes, ma'am, thank you." Seras shuffled over and dumped the bodies with a sickening "crunch" at the foot of the door. "Whew! That's better." Seras straightened her back and stretched her arms with a smile. "Ahh."

"And now," Integra said, "you are both dismissed."

Seras and Walter both looked at Intgera.

"Is that a problem?" Integra asked, folding her arms.

"Madam," Walter ventured, "We need to make arrangements to have soil and a replacement coffin imported from his homeland as soon as possible."

"Why?" Integra asked, walking towards the lab. "I have no intention of allowing him to regenerate. He can nurse his wounds like a human and sleep on the floor like a dog."

Walter looked at Seras. "Miss Victoria, would you please excuse Sir Integra and I?"

Seras looked miserable. "Yes, sir." She lowered her head at Integra. "Ma'am." With that she turned around and went back up the stairs, closing the door behind her.

"She's a good little soldier," Integra complimented wistfully. "She followed my orders without question all night, knowing what I did to her master."

"You're her master, too," Walter pointed out, unlocking the lab door. "You're the master of _her _master. Your authority supersedes all."

"But that's an artificial relationship," Integra countered, following the butler. "It's in defiance of her vampire nature. Her biology dictates she should be loyal to her vampire master before any other. Obeying a human authority is a left-over conditioned response from her human life."

"Miss Victoria is an expert at defying her vampire biology," Walter said with a smile, opening the door and going inside.

Integra chuckled, going inside behind him.

They both stood before Alucard, chained, bolted, blind-folded, gagged, nearly unconscious.

Walter sighed. "Alucard could learn a thing or two from Miss Victoria."

Integra folded her arms. "What am I going to do with him?"

Walter shrugged. "You could….let him down. He's been up there for hours."

Integra shook her head. "Oh, he's not coming down for a while."

"Yes, ma'am."

They continued to look at Alucard for a while.

Walter said, "Your grandfather had a master plan for Alucard. In addition to his psychic and supernatural enhancements, there were other experiments VanHelsing planned that he didn't live long enough to execute. Your father continued his work, but all research came abruptly to a halt when Alucard and I were sent to the front in the war." The old butler rocked back and forth on his heels. "Alucard had been so effective in combat your father kept sending him out into the field, just as you do now. He didn't want to risk having Alucard incapacitated by an experiment in the event he was needed for a mission, so he suspended all new research."

Integra looked carefully at Walter. "You think I should revive Hellsing's research and development arm, using Alucard as the guinea pig again?"

"It _was_ Hellsing's original function," Walter said. "Long before we were her majesty's sword. And you've pointed out yourself; Seras Victoria makes a _much_ better soldier."

Integra circled the chained vampire, looking him over carefully. She stopped in front of him. "No," she said. "Those experiments were excessively cruel. Punishment and torture under the guise of medical research."

Walter said, "Excuse me, ma'am, but…isn't it what he deserves? You told me what he's done. Your vengeance is well deserved."

Integra said nothing. She stepped close to the vampire and put her hand gently on his cheek.

Alucard stirred. He grunted once. His head lifted, shaking. A strand of drool hung from the gag. He tried to lean away from the foreign touch, but the halter around his head only let him move a few centimeters. He whimpered in confusion.

"He deserves to be killed," Integra said=. "He deserves to be put on his knees and shot. Or stung up in a tree. Or have his head cut off. Or be electrocuted. Or gutted. But it needs to be over and done with. He's a murderer and a tyrant and what he deserves is to be, finally and _forever_, cleanly _executed_."

Alucard was silent.

Integra withdrew a hankie from her pocket and smoothed it over Alucard's dry, cracked lips, sopping up the unseemly drool that had collected from the gag. "Except that's impossible," she resigned. "I could shoot him, hang him, cut off his head and burn his remains. He'll just come back. So instead, we have a prison. An imperfect, miserable prison where he'll linger forever and ever."

Walter balked. "So we do _nothing_?"

Integra shrugged. "What can I do?"

"But he's already demonstrated that being compassionate doesn't make him loyal," Walter reasoned. "Even now, he day dreams of _murdering_ you." He stepped forward, lowering his voice. "He masturbates and thinks about it. It gets him off."

Integra looked wistfully back at Alucard, a strange smile on her face. "I know."

"Doesn't it sicken you?"

Integra patted her breast pocket. "There's a flask of Jack Daniels right here. I'm going to drink it until it kills all my feelings."

"Ma'am, you can't allow him to have free reign of the house when you know he harbors hatred for you so deep in his heart," Walter said. "At least, allow me to lock him up. Seal him away, as your father did."

"And how permanent was that solution?" Integra said. "As long as he's alive, he will be my trump card. Bricking him up behind a door just robs me of a valuable resource."

Walter shook his head. "So…life resumes as normal? We pretend he did nothing?"

"No." Integra smiled. "The Round Table will make sure of that. My inbox is already full of messages from the other knights demanding an explanation for the video they've seen. I'm sure they're on their way right now." She nodded at the bodies on the floor. "And when their investigation leads them to those corpses, there will be little doubt how they got that way. If state-sponsored murder doesn't get me life in prison, it will surely cost me Hellsing."

Walter stepped forward. "We could blame _him_." He nodded at Alucard. "They'll never know."

Integra said nothing.

Walter said, "He's the scum of the earth. He doesn't deserve your protection."

Integra turned around and started to walk away.

"Ma'am!" Walter called.

"I'm going upstairs to polish off this flask, then I'm going to bed. I imagine I have a quite a day ahead of me tomorrow." As she passed through the threshold of the door, Integra paused, looking back at Walter. "You have any tool in this dungeon at your disposal. Before you let Alucard off that table, you make sure he understands he's been very bad. And I expect him to behave himself tomorrow, or he'll get more of the same." With that, she disappeared into the darkness.

Walter turned slowly to face Alucard.

The vampire hung limply, helplessly.

"Your master has turned her back on you. And I, as your friend, no longer have any respect for you." Walter took his black filament gloves from his pocket and put them on slowly. "Even your fledging has abandoned you," the old butler said to the vampire. "What does that tell you?"

Alucard said and did nothing. There was no indication if he was conscious or not.

Walter approached the vampire. He reached up and undid Alucard's trousers, shoving them down to his knees, leaving him naked. "I've been given an unpleasant task. Believe me, you _will_ pay." Walter said, testing his filament wires against his gloves and finding them as reliable and response as ever.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_To be continued…_


End file.
